Good morning from a wet and soggy Mount Edwards Equine Centre! 41ml here with overnight storms so we are happy that are tanks are filling up again and the grass is looking greener already :) Did you know that this time of year when spring rains come following dry, is the most problematic time for laminitis/founder - the painful, sometimes life threatening condition of the horses hoof where the laminae of the foot begins to separate ..... When rains come it promotes fresh young shoots of grass which have a higher fructan (natural sugars) level often to toxic levels- and our horses love to gorge themselves on it..... If you have a horse or pony prone to laminitis be especially vigilant at this time of year and particularly in the mornings when levels are at their highest- dry, native, rough, coarse grass may look unappealing to us, however it is much better for our horses particularly laminitics as even though the nutrients are lower, so are the fructan levels- starvation paddocks are not a good idea as the horses gut still needs to be moving all day, therefore if you do have a laminitic that you are trying to restrict lush fresh intake, make sure he has plenty of dry grassy hay to forage through, this keeps his digestion operating at a good capacity, producing the necessary enzymes for proper gut function and minimising the toxicity that causes the subsequent laminae separation. Feeding chopped straw will also help:)
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 22:48:31 +0000
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